Trepidation
by Sick.-.Nightmare
Summary: Bleach/Kingdom Hearts/Final Fantasy X VII/Bioshock X-over. The military, those who had heard a strange signal, and other unfortunate souls find themselves involved in the plot of Andrew Ryan and his obsession. But is there more?
1. Prophesying Excruciation

**Author's Note: This is the prologue, obviously. This is the magicalness of Julie and Sarah and their awesometastic bioshock crossover. NOW... on to the history of the story. It was a dark and stormy night, and Sarah was far away, and Julie was alone in her house. We were talking via MSN messenger. We began to discuss bioshock, and how... amusing it would be if certain (lovable) characters were to be brutally murdered in Rapture and if their friends were brought along to be terminated as well. Just for kicks we imagined that, if we wrote a story about it, we could choose all the ways for people to perish and who would have the privilege of living in our carnage strewn storyline. **

**So that is how this story was brought to life.**

**This prologue is first person, and not the entire story will be written in this style. Instead, this is probably the only time during this story you will ever see it in first person for it will be written third person. Many beloved characters that Sarah and Julia love will die. If you do not want to see any main characters die, but you won't know who, you should probably not read this story for it is guaranteed that there will be much character bloodshed. **

**This IS a crossover between Bleach, Kingdom Hearts, and Final Fantasy VII.**

**Summary: The carnage wrought city of Rapture has been left to decay after the genetic experiments of Ryan had failed and the people of the city became mindless monsters. Since then, a plane had crashed near the facility and soon the military began to suspect that it had been shot. Meanwhile, a signal was sent out and attracted several groups while several others stumbled upon the unfortunate city. The story becomes an emotional ride of grief and a fight for survival. Ryan needs new bodies to experiment with and he will stop at _nothing_ to get them.**

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**Everything was red, and through the red was the bathysphere.**

**The entrance to Rapture.**

The submersible dock was a small area at the bottom of the bathysphere where the sphere-like submersibles used to rise up and unload new residents when the city was young. The pool that the sub would rise out of was only about ten feet across both ways, enough room for the submarine with about a foot of space on each side. Steps from the dock led up to the main entrance hall.

If one walked up the steps from the dock, most would stand in awe of the sight before them. The entrance hall was designed to stun newcomers. Two great pillars stood on either side of the path into the entrance room, and straight ahead was the wall. The wall was made up of immense, rectangular windows that stared with wide, lidless eyes through the Atlantic waters to gaze upon the magnificent sight of Rapture.

The hall was bathed in a dim, ghostly light. The light itself was not from the ocean's surface, which could not be seen, but from the electric neon signs around the drowned city that could be seen from the docking building. The light rebounded off of the pillars and steps on the staircases to creep its way to the upper entrance level. If one was to walk up to the windows and turn back to the dock, they would be able to view the double staircases curling behind the pillars. The staircases led to the doors above that guided new arrivals into the city proper.

However...

A thick, dank, reeking stench inhabited the once grand entrance. The smell of stale water, rotting food, moulding clothes, and the odorous smell of dirt and garbage permeated the bottom level of the docking station. There was another smell though, separate from the dust and mould. The stench of blood and death slithered around the room, a stench that wound itself into every orifice of every being within reach. Scattered along the red carpeted floor was glass from broken lights, suitcases still filled with _(blood) _belongings, clothes, shoes, children's _(blood)_ toys, the odd needle, dirt, a blue dress, bits of concrete, and blood. So much blood. The human body only contains 5.6 litres of blood, enough to fill a bathroom sink. A body count according to the amount of crimson fluid slashed upon the walls and stained into the carpet could not be estimated. The place reeked. That's why nobody went down there very often.

Things were broken as well. Like most things in Rapture. There were track lights that changed color in the ceiling of the entrance hall once, it was beautiful the way the light caught and danced in the hall. The things that crawl on the roof had broken them a while ago. The two tracks lay like skeletal spines, one leaning against a pillar, and the other bent out of shape, blocking the entrance to one staircase. But not that it mattered. The staircase being blocked was broken anyway. A metal daddy had set off an explosive and destroyed the lower half. It had also damaged the nearby pillar but not quite enough to knock it down. None of the lights in the bathysphere worked anymore. There were places though where power cords had torn and occasionally something would knock it around and a circuit would connect, and one of the track lights still sparked regularly. The only lighting came from the neon signs outside the glass wall. The place was in ruins now.

**...and it was all red.**

I see everything bathed in red. Years ago I had forgotten colors. Even now, it doesn't seem like the red is a color even though I know it is. It seems like a shade. Like a black and white television with a burgundy hue. If I were to describe my vision I would not say that the only color I am able to see is red, I would say that red is how I see. Does it make sense? I thought not, nobody understands anything anymore.

Years ago before Ryan, before Rapture, and before splicing I had been a woman. I cannot remember who I used to be, or where I used to work, if I had a family, I can't remember anything about being a woman. It is an odd thing when one can remember the time around when they started to forget. I can remember forgetting. I can't remember why it happened though. Sometimes a memory will break through but I think it's only the Adam talking to me again. I try to ignore it when that happens. Others I have met say that they can remember everything fine, but they are lying. They must be lying to me. I wish I were still a woman though. I am a creature now like everyone else living in Rapture. I may not remember anything about being a woman, but I know I was a woman who wore contact lenses. I started forgetting to take them out every night, around the same time I started forgetting everything else. After that I kept them in as a reminder of my old life. I think that is why I lost my colors. It makes me sad, sometimes I can imagine things being in color but when I try to picture them I can't see it.

I had come down to the bathysphere to look for a... a ball point pen. I needed one to complete my work. My unfinished story about everything I had experienced in Rapture. I was writing it because it passed the time. I don't know what happened to the last pen but I was hoping to find one among the luggage of those who had been caught in the slaughter. I never liked going to the bathysphere because it was dirty. ALL of Rapture is dirty, but the bathysphere is... _dirty. _I have dirt under my fingernails, and it stays there loathing and getting thicker and dirtier. All of the dirt under my nails is from the bathysphere. It comes up into Rapture and finds me so that my nails become bloody and smelly and dirty. I hate dirt.

I crept down the staircase guardedly, and was careful not to step in too much of the dust and dirt that had consumed the floor. The dust showed up as a lighter shade, while dirt was recognized as darker, there werent any colors like brown or white anymore. The carpet underfoot was dark red, not from blood either; it was the color that Ryan had wanted. I remember hearing that he thought it was a grand color. I couldn't see it of course, not with my eyes. I already said I couldn't picture it either, I just remembered. It was one of the things I hadn't forgotten yet. Almost as odd as being able to remember when I started to forget, is the fact that I still know what color most things are, even though I cannot picture the colors. The bloody shades had been drawn too long ago for colors to remain.

The hall was quiet, except for the lapping of water at the docking area. The whole place was still, no living thing existed. It comforted me to know I was the only one there. A lot of the others were violently protective of territory, objects and whatnot. I was grateful not to have the need to deal with anyone else today. I didn't have a place to be territorial over. Maybe I could claim the Bathysphere as my own... but it was dirty... I could clean up the _(blood)_ dirt and junk lying around... then I would have a place of my own... nobody came down here anymore. As I was contemplating I continued my way down the staircase to the lower level where the suitcases were strewn about carelessly, to where I might find my prize.

I paused at the bottom of the staircase. My hand rested lightly upon the marble rail as I listened tentatively for any sounds that might indicate someone else in the bathysphere. There were none. Only the sounds of water and electrical shortages going on in the hall could be heard. I sighed. I'm not sure why I sighed then, maybe it was premonition, or maybe I'm going crazy. Anyways, I stepped out into the carpeted hall and started to creep my way towards the suitcases.

I'm glad that I wore shoes because if I wasn't I'm sure the floor would disgust me, I'm sure I would have had my feet covered in dirt, glass, and flakes of dried blood before long. It was odd though that I wore the shoes because they weren't lady shoes, they were hiking boots that used to belong to a man I strangled. He was trying to take my writing so I killed him in case he tried to take anything else. It made sense. I couldn't use his clothes though; I was a female after all. I wore a dress that had been part of the theatre attire. It is a yellow dress; the theatre label on it stated so. I hung around the theatre a lot. I didn't live there though; the place was inhabited by things that crawled on the ceiling. I carried my story in the front of my dress where no one could get it. My hair was tied back in a bun, but some had fallen out and hung limp at the sides of my face. I had forgotten what exact color my hair was but I think it used to be brown.

The rank odour was starting to slink its way into my nostrils. I thought it would be much worse, but it wasn't too bad. I couldn't smell much other than death, and I had gotten used to that shortly after the city had gone to hell. Everyone had. Slowly I came upon the first suitcase lying near the pillar to my right. It was a darker shade, but I couldn't be sure what color it was. It was lying open; clearly it had already been searched. Glass and a stain lay near the case, which could have been anything.

I crouched down to search through the remains, but flinched when I thought I heard a sound. Quickly I stood up and backed around behind the pillar. My breathing was heavy. It sounded like something big. I waited on heartbeats; no sounds followed so I continued to wait. Maybe it had been outside. It had almost sounded like machinery, or something large and metal hitting something else. I couldn't be sure though. My eyes darted to the window in case anything outside had broken off. It didn't look like anything had recently broken. A whale drifted outside minding its own business, unaware of the destruction and death around it. Maybe I was hearing things.

I scrambled to the suitcase again and began searching quickly in case the sound I had heard was something more serious than an imaginary ricochet. I threw a shirt over my shoulder, found a pair of glasses, an empty cigar box, more clothes, a nearly empty bottle of lotion and a few pairs of pants. No pen. The next suitcase was in the open, near the steps leading down to the dock. It was closed which could mean it hadn't been searched yet, although why it wouldn't have been puzzled me.

I walked over to it and began struggling with the cheap lock on the front. "Damnit," I spat furiously. It wouldn't open, but I had a plan. I left the case and trampled back up the stairs and looked around for a few seconds before my eyes came to rest on the object I had seen earlier. I crept over and picked it up. It was a pipe of some kind, a little heavy for me, but it would suit my purpose. I manoeuvred back down the stairs to the locked case and examined it.

The lock was tiny, I'm sure the key had probably been made from a cheap, malleable metal that would have been useless or broken after a few uses. The lock would break easily if I could hit it with the pipe in the right spot. I laughed heartily at my genius before whacking wildly at the locked case hoping to hit the lock with one of my strikes. One of them swung true and the lock skittered off down the steps to the docking bay. I knelt down by the case and pried it open.

I was about to start another search when I head another sound, the same as before. It was a metal banging noise. I scurried with my pipe to the safe hiding spot between the pillar and the stairs. Armed with a pipe this time I waited for whatever it was that had made the sound. Once again nothing followed, but I wasn't so easily fooled this time. No, no you couldn't use the same trick on me twice! I tapped the pipe against my open palm experimentally as I waited. Soon another bang sounded closer, coming from down the steps near the submarine bay. Looking down the steps I couldn't see anything moving but the water in the circular pool. I was confused but anxious.

Bubbles started to appear one by one on the surface of the pool. One following another grew to five rising at a time, and five turned into twenty and after that they all blurred together in a massive heap. The metal grinding noises started to happen constantly. I watched in awe as the water churned and splashed at the edges madly. Suddenly I could see a submersible rising out of the frothing water.

No newcomers had arrived in the city for months. I'm sure if anyone had seen me then as I was watching the sub, they could have read the shock on my face fairly easily. I continued to watch in awe as the banged up piece of equipment made its way to the surface of the pool and rose out of the depths. Who the hell was it? I had no clue. It wasn't someone new coming to live in the city, the whole world I'm sure knew about the downhill slide Rapture had taken. Maybe it was the military or someone close to Ryan. Or maybe... maybe it was someone who had come down here to 'take out the trash' as it were. Maybe they would step out with gas machines and exterminate ever single creature (monster) in Rapture.

That thought settled over my heart, and turned it to ice. I would not be taken out so easily.

The sub came to a stop, still bobbing in the water. I tapped my pipe again into the palm of my hand. A grin started at the corners of my mouth, and continued to grow until my lips curled at the edges in an insane smirk. I was going to save everyone right here and right now by killing whoever had come from the upper world. Another thought crept its way into my mind...

They were dirty...

Contaminated! Disgusting viruses were going to escape from their bodies and infect the whole place. If they didn't kill me I was going to get infected and die anyways. I had to kill them before they had a chance to spread their dirty, filthy germs everywhere. My grin collapsed by only a fraction of an inch, but my grip on the pipe tightened. I waited with a new resolve. The sub bobbed in the water for a bit, and still nobody came out, I saw no signs of life in the tiny capsule.

Then, faintly I heard a high pitched woman's voice. It annoyed me already. The voice was gibbering away and changing volume, swinging this way and that like a child's kite in a hurricane. If I had a gun, I would run down to the sub now and shoot her for having such an irritating voice. But I didn't have one, so I stayed hiding behind my nice, safe pillar. The voice just kept babbling on, I heard banging as well; someone must have been hitting the inside of the sub. A loud shushing sound came from inside the sub and the high pitched voice stopped. A quiet murmuring could be heard as another voice spoke. The voice continued for a while before the high voice came back in a loud, whining tone. The other voice got louder and ignored the shushing technique and went straight to what sounded like scolding. More banging was heard and then a loud squeal of excitement.

The door of the sub hissed and started to open. My blood started rushing; I could smell the air that was coming out of the submersible. It was poison, it was death, and it was dirty. My nose scrunched up in a pig-like way as I sniffed in disgust. The door opened a little before getting stuck. Immediately, I could have predicted it, the girl with the high pitched voice whined loudly. The two people in the sub started banging on the door to try and force it open. The door didn't look like it was going to head their attempts to break free. The whiny voice was complaining more now. I began to think I might be able to leave and come back with a fire plasmid or something and just burn them in the sub; it would be messy but easier to clean up than if I killed them with the pipe. Plus if they were trapped inside the sub, they wouldn't be able to get at me when I burned them. I should do that. So I decided to go back and find something to burn the two intruders with.

I was about to leave when I heard clearly the other voice yell, "Stand back!" It was a female voice as well same high voice but not as whiny sounding. I thought she was talking to me or someone outside the sub, but that wasn't possible, there was no way they could see me and no one was in the entrance hall besides me and them. I pondered on that and was about to dismiss the comment and leave when something happened. The submersible exploded.

I jumped and crouched down on the ground, a hiss caught deep in my throat. I saw the submersible's door come flying off into the hall, I feared it would break the windows but it ricocheted off of the top step leading down to the sub and flung itself into the already damaged pillar that was a kin to mine. The pillar groaned and came away from the ceiling, tiny flecks of marble flying everywhere. The monstrous pillar broke in the middle where the door had hit, and the top half came crashing to the ground. It fell across the path to the submersible, narrowly missing the pillar I had hidden behind. Dust clouded the air, clouded my reddish vision, and clouded my mind. It was everywhere! It was getting in my skin, in my nose, my ears, and under my fingernails. I could have screamed but the hiss still caught in the bottom of my dusty throat. I tried not to breathe as the dust settled.

I thought that for sure the submersible had been completely destroyed, but apparently I was wrong. Coughing drifted up to meet my ears that were filling with the dust and grit from the pillar mishap. I couldn't believe they were still alive; I would still have to kill them now. I looked down at my hand to make sure the pipe was still in my grip; it was. The insanity grin returned. I could feel my lips curling at the edges again. I liked that feeling; it made me feel good. The coughing near the bottom of the submersible dock continued and then died down. I decided this was the time to make my move, and I almost stopped looking at the pipe in my hands, when I took note of something...

I could see it there, grinning at me from the open pores of my skin. It was grinning and I could see it, it was mocking me as it sat, grinding its way deeper and deeper into my arms and burrowing further under my nails. My head started to spin and I felt nauseous. I tried to scream again but all that came up from my throat was the acidic taste of bile. I swallowed quickly so the retched people below wouldn't hear me vomiting and come and kill me. The taste was still there though; I couldn't get rid of that. I examined my arms fearfully again, with better control of my insides. I still felt like screaming but the urge was controllable. My eyes were wide as I tried to distinguish the different shades on my arms. I could see the dirt clearly where it was dark. If it was left there it would infect me, and it would dig its way under my skin and become a part of me. I would never be able to get it out if that happened. Who knows how quickly it can dig its way in? I should get it off now, while I have the chance.

Quickly I glanced down towards the dock, I heard voices quietly conspiring. I moved more behind the pillar so they couldn't see me. They were still down in the submarine dock. The dust hadn't quite settled so I would be protected for a few more minutes still. I turned my gaze back to my arms and nails. I would start with my arms. I tried to quietly brush the dirt off, but it didn't work. I could still see most of it lurking there. I glared sickly, the taste still in my mouth. I tried scratching. I hissed when none of it seemed to disappear. I scratched faster. I t wouldn't work, I realized. The dirt had already had time to burrow underneath my skin. My head spun again and I wished I had a knife to cut out the dirt. But I didn't and the pipe would hardly suffice as a cutting tool. I used all of my nails to scratch as deep as I could. It was quite deep but strangely I felt no pain as I continued to dig into my arm with my long, ragged nails.

Three streams of blood began to flow from my arm. I watched it with interest as it trickled around the contours of my limb. Then another realization hit me; the blood was a part of me, and it was going to drip, drip, drip onto the floor, where the dust and grit was waiting to feast upon a part of me, any part it could get. I couldn't let that happen. Continuing to scratch at my arm, I raised my arm to my mouth and let my tongue slide out to taste the red liquid flowing from my skin. It tasted strange but not bad, very salty, but somehow very metallic as well. I lapped up all of the blood that was streaming, and was satisfied with the job I had done. I had gotten all of the dirt out, by tearing six more bloody lines in my skin. I was going to start on the other arm, when I noticed the dirt and skin under my nails.

Once again the bile rose in my stomach and I felt sick. It was so deep under my nails! There was no amount of scrubbing that could remove it now. I gripped my nail and tried to pull it off so I could get to the dirt underneath, but it wouldn't budge. I chocked on a scream of frustration. Instinctively I shoved the tip of my nail between my teeth, and ripped my hand away, tearing the whole nail cleanly off. I spat out the nail after a moment. And examined the bloody mess I had made of my thumb. I thought about the dirt waiting on the floor and stuck my mutilated thumb into my mouth to clean off the blood gushing out. I poked and prodded the tender, brutalized flesh until I thought it was clean. I pulled out my thumb and proceeded to my index finger. Without thinking I repeated the process on all the nails, ripping the nails off with my teeth and cleaning them with my tongue. It was probably painful but I still felt nothing.

I moved on to my other arm to get the dirt out before finishing with my nails, but before I could get started I heard the voices again. They drifted up to me from the stairs behind my pillar. I couldn't understand what they were saying because they were speaking to quietly for me to hear. They were getting closer to the pillar though. Absent-mindedly I licked the blood from my arm that had begun to stream again. The people were not talking anymore but I could hear their footsteps nearing, and passing the pillar I was so cleverly concealed behind. I moved silently around the opposite side of the pillar so as to stay out of sight as they moved past. I was behind them now, and ready to make my move.

I peered out from behind the pillar to take a look at my prey. Two women as I had suspected. Both of them had dark hair, one with long, and one with short though. I could only see them from behind so I couldn't see any other distinguishing features on either of them. The dark haired one was wearing very dark clothes though, and the short haired girl was wearing a pair of lighter shaded shorts, with a darker top. I started to creep out from behind the pillar, and advance on them. I was fascinated by their attire though as I was doing my best to sneak up behind them. I would be grateful to be able to shed the (bloody) dress I was so accustomed with. I could use their clothes to suit my own needs. That is, after I cleansed them of the filth that they were saturated in.

I was careful not to step on any of the glass, so as not to make any noise and I crept ever closer. I was close enough to smell them now. They both smelled sweet, and healthy, a smell that was most uncommon in the city these days. Not even Arcadia smelled like they did. It also made me feel quite nauseous. They both stopped suddenly and so did I, heart beating faster than I have ever remembered. I hardly dared to breathe. We were situated in front of the staircase leading up to the entrance to Rapture, and I was barely five feet behind them.

"Did you hear something?" The girl with the short hair identified herself as the high pitched voice. My foot moved an inch along the floor, slowly slipping. The slight grinding noise was enough to draw their attention and they both whipped around to stare at me. I was in the open now, completely exposed. I made my move. Screaming I launched myself at the girl with the long hair, swinging my pipe wildly like I had done when attacking the suitcase lock. Lucky for me another of my strikes landed, and I knocked the girl to the ground after dealing a damaging blow to her head. She cried out as she fell and I couldn't be sure but I thought she might be bleeding a little. I turned to the other girl who was brandishing a large four bladed knife-like weapon that I somehow had not seen before. She must have been carrying it in front of her.

I laughed manically and was compelled to cackle a tune I had heard on the radio once. I made a few alterations to fit my needs. I started quietly, "_Little ones to me belong,"_ I swayed back and forth. "_They are weak_," I spat, "_but I am strong!"_ I screamed the last words and flung myself at her with all of my strength.

The weapon she carried rose to my level so fast, there was no way I could have stopped myself from plunging into the large spike that was pointed towards me. Falling quickly, the tip of the blade penetrated my skin and ripped through me to the hilt where I stopped. I screamed and thrashed my skewered body but to no avail, I could not extract myself from the spike that had stabbed through my stomach. The girl was still holding the four bladed object and she pushed me off using her foot, making a disgusted sound. I collapsed to the floor whilst my vision began to blur and my head spun with the pain that had engulfed my stomach. I lay on the dirty _(bloody)_ floor, and watched in anger as the girl ran over to her friend who was getting up off of the floor now.

I hadn't killed either of them. Now Rapture and everyone in it would die from infections and the extermination these two were sure to perform. The two composed themselves and took one last glance at me before heading up the stairs and into the city. My vision was starting to fade quickly, and I couldn't grasp much of anything anymore. My thoughts circled around one thing though; one thought that was still clear to me even now. I opened my mouth and spoke the last words I could before I died, the last thing I could think of after everything. I gargled out the words.

"Fucking dirt."

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**Suddenly there was a massive random explosion and everybody died except for somebody but I don't know who that was so I won't bother explaining it to you. I hope you enjoyed this amazing story created by none other than President George W. Bush himself. Thank you for reading and one more thing: in case I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening and goodnight. **

**Quote from Sarah's younger brother, Thomas. He's just _charming_ isn't he?**


	2. Inauguration to Madness

_**So, after much deliberation and reworking the chapter, we have finally finished the second one! Actually, it's been finished for a while.... Just some problems with the account and whatnot had not allowed us to post it. But oh well, its up now. Personally, I believe it is WAYYY better than the last one, why? Well, if you read it then you'll see why. More scenes, things make a bit more sense, better writing. Just over all WAYYY better. So have fun! And the next chapter shall be up not too long from now.**_

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_Sora, Kairi, and Riku:_

_I apologize for interrupting the few short days that you have spent at home, however, I have received a distress signal that requires your assistance. Though the signal is not clear about what is occurring at this particular world, I can only hope that it is not too late to save those who have dispatched the signal. I fear that there may be heartless about once more, and if that is so then there is a chance of a greater evil rising. Unfortunately, I am not able to accompany you on this trip, for I have classified matters to attend to. The planet that the distress signal has been projected from is Earth, one of the few planets I believe you have not visited during your time as Keyblade Wielders. Chip and Dale have sent a gummiship toward Destiny Island as I write this letter. I would like you to take it for the duration of your time you are traveling to Earth, and investigating the cause of this distress signal. _

_I wish you all the best of luck, and travel safely._

_King Mickey Mouse_

_-_

The place they arrived at was not like anything they were expecting. The sight was awful, but the smell was even worse. Even as Sora walked, he could feel his socks already beginning to get soaked from the water that flooded the floor. It was just passed their ankles now, and he was aware of some objects brushing against his exposed skin as they moved. Goosebumps graced his arms and legs, shivers running up and down his spine as they passed by more unrecognizable substances. His blue eyes glanced down at the murky water, repulsion playing across his features quickly before he frowned. The water was so murky that it was hard to see anything at all, but the dim lighting in the room didn't help either. There were shadows everywhere, hiding anything that didn't want to be seen.

Wrinkling his nose, Sora tried to bear the horrible fish-like stench, but as he turned he saw the source of the more noticeable but unrecognisable odour. His blue eyes widened at the sight, unsure if what he was actually seeing was real; a body hung in a crucifix fashion from a large crate, but that wasn't necessarily the part that bothered him. It was the fact the body had been dead for a while, and whoever the person was, they had been burned beyond recognition. The skin itself was burned to a crisp, charred while the blood slid down the crate and into the water. His eyes skimmed over the wrists, looking at the rusted chains upon them that allowed the person to be hung in the first place. The thought churned his stomach as he thought of when that person may have been set on fire; when they were still _alive_. However the scorched noose around their neck could have ended their life before they were burned.

His attention was wavered from the corpse and toward the flickering flame out in the hall. As Kairi let out a gasp, finally seeing the torched carcass, Riku placed a hand over her mouth in attempt to stifle her scream. Sora had heard movement, or maybe it was someone talking, but the murmuring was getting closer. This place was all so strange from the world they had come from; a place where happy endings were almost inevitable, the evil was always vanquished, and love conquered all. Here though, that feeling of hope wasn't in the atmosphere at all. Replacing it was the dread and fear of those that had been killed already, their emotions still so strong. Sora turned toward his friends, giving Riku a grateful look while sending Kairi an apologetic frown before moving into the vicinity of the hallway. The voice he had heard earlier was becoming more coherent as he got closer to the source, but there was a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.

_Fear_.

The sound of water moving caused him to pause, straining his ears to listen for which direction the resonance was coming from. His heart was beating so loud that he was afraid whatever was there may hear him, but soon the whispered murmurs began to grow louder and louder; echoing down the hall and toward where he stood. Sora stumbled back in surprise, managing to stop his fall before he peeked around the corner. The stirring of water was caused by a man walking around the small area. As he watched, he noticed that the man was also swinging something in his hand. The man's movements were sharp and quick as he turned at each noise that sounded, but the dark didn't allow Sora to see what the man exactly looked like.

There was a shout of anger, with obvious pain underlying it, that quickly turned into shouts. "I'm just lonely, just lonely!" The voice seemed to moan, wrenching in a way that Sora had never heard before. However, the voice continued on the conversation, not noticing the brunette boy who watched him from afar. "You'll come back to me, won't you? You have to come back!"

Was there someone nearby? Sora hadn't seen anyone else, but there could have been someone at the far end of the hall. Squinting, he tried to focus; however he still didn't see another person. No, there _had_ to be another person, this man wouldn't just be talking to himself… Would he? Well, this place _was_ rather strange… Shaking his head, Sora turned away from the corner and took a deep breath. He didn't understand why, but everything about this place gave him the creeps. Quickly he extended his right arm, allowing the warmth of the smooth metal to materialize into his hand. The keyblade made him feel somewhat safe, and it gave him a partial form of hope. He will be able to help whomever he will find in this hellish place, but it will only take time for that to occur.

A sharp sound of metal against metal caused Sora to jump, the hairs standing on his neck as he quickly turned to see that the man had hit something to cause a flickering light to turn on. Goosebumps then began to race across his skin once more as he saw what the man looked like; blood covered the white t-shirt he wore, amongst other unrecognizable substances, and the jeans were doused in the same matter. There were also some tears in the clothing, but that's not what bothered Sora the most; part of the face was covered in a mask, but the part that showed was undeniably mad with hunger. The object the man had been swinging in his hand was some sort of pipe, but the hand itself was slightly disfigured for whatever reason. Focussing back onto the pipe, Sora saw that it was rusted from the water that it had probably sat in before it was picked up by this man, although there was a darker substance against the rust. Sora nearly gasped in horror before he clasped a hand over his own mouth; it was someone's dried _blood_ on that piece of metal.

"If you won't come back to me, you won't go back to anyone!" The last part ended with yelling, and Sora's blue eyes widened in shock. The man was swinging the pipe wildly, turning every which way, but it was obvious now; there was no one there. The man's voice went back to pleading, his back hunching over slightly as he put his hands out in front of him. It almost looked like he was begging to an invisible force, but Sora didn't know what to believe anymore. "But you will come back… Right? You _**can't**_leave me… I WON'T ALLOW IT!"

"Sora!" Jumping, Sora turned around as he looked at the cherry haired girl. Her eyes were wide with unexplainable fear, while her skin had gone slightly pale from her natural tan. All he could think about was how she would get injured, how he had to protect her from that person who looked dangerous. Worry began to etch itself into his face as he thought about the man, about the blood that was on the blunt object he held.

"Kairi, go back to Riku!" He urgently whispered, casting a glance around the corner. It had gone quiet, an eerie silence from the murmuring and shouting that had occurred only a few moments before. However, as he looked, he saw that the man was no where to be found. Taking it as a good thing, Sora then turned back to see Kairi shake her head. A fierce look came into her eyes, and Sora sighed in frustration; when she was set on something, it was hard to budge her or change her mind. She must've left when Riku had begun to inspect the containers, wondering why it was taking Sora such a long time to get back to them.

Making sure his voice was quiet, he whispered urgently, "You can't be here, I don't want you to get-" Sora didn't hear the movement of water close by, he didn't even see the fear that rapidly came into Kairi's eyes as she opened her mouth to warn him. All he could focus on now was the splitting pain that engulfed his world, sending him falling into the grotesque water.

Sora felt the liquid stir beside him as he struggled to get up, the pain almost unbearable in his head and it seemed to cause the ringing within his ears. The man was very close to him now, he could feel the hot breath just beside his ear as he spoke, "She's pretty isn't she?" Sora listened as the man stood up, and could only picture the scene. He had probably raised the pipe that was in his hand, his eyes carrying a half crazed look that was focused only upon the him. "YOU CAN'T HAVE HER!" The man screamed out, making Sora wince; he was sure that he was going to die, he could barely even get up to use his keyblade.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sora caught sight of a shadow that quickly moved in front of Kairi. Before he had even focussed on who the person was, there was a screech that filled the hall as some sort of liquid spilt upon him. Sora faintly knew what it was, but his mind was too fuzzy to comprehend what was actually happening. Then, just as quickly as the shadow had come, a weight fell upon his back; pushing him further into the murky water. The weight was too much, he couldn't get himself up far enough to breath the air that was just above the water. He felt the body of the man get pushed off of him, but by then he was quickly succumbing to the darkness that was waiting at the edge of his mind.

Everything about the darkness sent shivers racing across his limbs, where was the way out? Sora could scarcely remember where he was, and the memory of everything was quickly slipping out of his grasp. However, soon he could hear voices through the thick fog of darkness that was surrounding him. They were blurry at first, and they didn't simply come from one place; the voices were everywhere and no where. _"He's bleeding!"_ The voice was worried, but Sora instantly knew who it was; Kairi. He shouted her name, but no words came out of his throat as the darkness continued to press down on him. Wincing, he felt some movement, then the dark fog began to disperse slowly. _"Do we have any potions?"_

"_No… We used the few we had when the gummiship crashed into the water…" _There was silence, then the voice spoke up again, "_It can wait; we'll find some sort of supplies in this place to help him."_ Riku? Sora turned toward the voice but was only greeted with shadows. Soon pain engulfed his mind, and he yelled out in agony, but faintly knew that he moved only a little bit. Pressure pressed down onto his lips and air forced itself into his lungs, allowing oxygen to begin circulating through his system once more as he coughed up water. _"He's coming around."_

Upon realizing that he couldn't _breathe_, Sora turned to the side and coughed up more of the grotesque water from his lungs. His throat was raw from the coughing once he had finished, but now the action of breathing was easier than it had been when he had first awoken. He groaned softly, placing his head into his hands as the pain in his skull hit him harder; he could feel his face contort in agony as he took in a deep breath. It just hurt _so_ much.

"Sora…"

Her voice was almost desperate, and even though Sora knew he was with them he couldn't exactly remember why. Weren't they at Destiny Island? They had barely just gotten back from the adventure they had taken before, defeating Organization XIII and returning hearts to the neighbouring worlds. Confusion swamped him as he forced his eyes opened and studied the dark dank place they were surrounded by. Flashes of what had happened brought themselves to his mind but none of it was at all clear, but one thing was for sure: they were in trouble. He could feel the emotion take over slightly, but it was too dull for him to react to at all. "Sora? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah," the simple response brought pain to his head; his own voice was almost too loud. Forcing himself to stand, the injury on his head throbbed horribly and the world seemed to spin for a minute or two. Sora couldn't remember why he was hurt, or why they were in this horrifying room in the first place. It was a blur to him that he couldn't quite make clear, no matter how hard he tried. Even though he wanted to walk on his own, without the help of his friends, he knew he needed them as his vision swam in front of his eyes. "What… Happened?"

"That man came up behind you and hit you pretty hard," Sora wasn't sure what Kairi was talking about, he couldn't remember what man she was suggesting. "I'm just glad that you're ok," Kairi gave his arm a soft squeeze before they began to move forward, and he knew that she was trying to make best of the dire situation they were in. His movements were a bit sluggish still, and because of that he couldn't be agile and swift; not when he couldn't move his limbs properly and his head felt like it had nearly been split open. All of his thoughts were scrambling with a solution to what was going on, but Sora continued to draw a blank.

The walls of the place they were within were all covered with grime, but as they passed into a room the grime shifted colors. Wincing inwardly, Sora tried his best to clear his mind of the thoughts that seemed to appear. He faintly realized that his clothes were soaking wet, and his body began to tremble with the effort to keep warm. It caused his movements to be more jerkier than sluggish, but suddenly his supporters paused. He heard a quick intake of breath from Kairi, and when he ventured to look at Riku's face he saw that it was masked with unmistakeable terror.

Sora swallowed down the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat and turned toward where they were looking. A body of a young woman lay across the floor to where the entry of the next room was; the remains were strewn across the wooden ground, already beginning to go into the first stages of decay. It was as if the person had been torn apart by rabid blood lusting monsters, and considering where they were, Sora didn't think it was unlikely. Closing his eyes, he felt himself grow more nauseous than what he was before; his insides were just churning at the sight before him, even though he couldn't necessarily smell the odour emitting from it. The lump in his throat was back once more, this time it was almost too large to swallow down and so he allowed himself to fall to his hands and knees.

"Sora!" Both Kairi and Riku instantly knelt down beside him, unsure of what to do. He hadn't been able to keep his balance for the longest time, and now the wound that he had obtained seemed to be affecting him more as time passed. He winced as another flash of pain went through his cranium, clenching his hands into fists. "Are you alright? Can you stand?" The questions seemed to flow through Kairi's mouth before she was able to stop them, but Sora had no way to answer them. He didn't know if he could stand, he wasn't even sure if he was _alright_.

But the tighter Sora closed his blue eyes, the more vivid the image became.

Blood everywhere, the portions of the human body that should never be seen was hanging out as if it were an everyday occurrence. He knew how all the parts were supposed to fit together; he could picture how the woman had been when she was fully intact, even if she was still dead. In his mind's eye, he watched as she screamed while several people were advancing toward her. They grabbed her, tore at her, and soon their bodies covered hers as they tore apart every piece of who she was to satisfy their hunger, their need.

Without warning, Sora felt his body lurch forward and vomit covered the ground before him. He tightly closed his eyes and felt as his muscles tightened themselves until they hurt. It felt as though the world was spinning wildly out of control and several times he felt his body sway and threaten to fall, but he felt two hands try to hold him steady so he wouldn't. Again, his body did the same movements and he felt his throat burn with the acidic liquid before it escaped through his mouth.

When Sora had finally finished heaving up the contents that were in his stomach, the two pair of hands hauled him to his feet once more and placed his arms around their shoulders. The voices were far more distant as he felt himself begin to drift into unconsciousness, but the anxiety and unease of his friends were evident when he shifted slightly. He wanted to tell them he'll be fine, to not worry about him, but instead he let his head drop and allowed the darkness to engulf him once more.

*****************

"Goddamnit, my gun got jammed from shooting that fucking woman…" Miranda lifted her eyes briefly from the map she had in her hands to look at the male that had been complaining for the past few minutes. He waved his gun in the air with anger as he prodded it, trying to fix it from the state it was in. Shane was young, he was one of the newest recruits into the military, but his anger seemed to get him in trouble everywhere he went. He had a stance of 5'9, not the tallest but not the shortest either, while his once cropped blonde hair was now a few inches long; obviously he disregarded the military protocol for haircuts. "How the fuck does a gun get jammed for _shooting _something?! That's what it's fucking made to do!"

"Don't get so pissy 'cause you jammed your own gun, be a man and fix it before we leave you for being dead weight." Another voice sounded, causing Miranda to roll her eyes as she looked back down at the map she had been holding.

Sharax. The brunette woman was fairly young, but she had managed to gain second in command in this operation. Standing at 5'2, she was a little below average height, nevertheless, she still managed to intimidate most with her sharp tongue. Upon noticing that she was staring, Miranda hastily looked away in embarrassment. She didn't necessarily understand what they were meant to do, however it wasn't her place to understand; she was just the medical officer after all. If someone got hurt, she was supposed to help them; to wrap up the wounds that they had obtained.

"That's enough, Sharax." A deeper voice commanded before all went silent, even though it was calm there was an underlying anger within it. Rafe spoke gruffly, in a tone that demanded attention. He was just the type of person no one questioned, it was what made him such an effective general. Sharax instantly quieted, her face contorting in anger before she crossed her arms and turned away from the group.

Glancing up at the newer recruit, Miranda saw that Shane was glaring at Sharax; his hand clenching and unclenching the gun while it was in his grasp. "Here, Shane I'll help you with it…" She offered as she stood from the spot she had been knelt at. The gun, a typical .45 pistol, was a designated gun in the military. It was small, but it was effective.

She worked in silence, putting the safety on before checking each spot of the gun. Miranda didn't know much about guns and how they worked, she only knew how to shoot them when they needed to be shot. Still, she wanted the irritation that had placed itself within the small group of four people to just ease its tension away. Just so that they could finish this mission and go home as quickly as possible.

Some movement caught the corner of her eye, and she turned to see a boy with silver hair standing in plain view. He looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old, but Miranda didn't entirely understand what a kid was doing in a place like this. The only thing they had encountered were monsters, horribly disfigured humans that only had one thing on their mind; blood. Yet, this kid appeared to be nothing like the people they had encountered so far; he actually appeared to be _normal_, despite the odd clothing he was wearing. His face was quite serious, as if he had seen far too much in his life already and he was just doing another job; another _mission_.

"He's been watching us for a while," the voice caught her off guard as she turned to look at Rylie, the fourth member of their little group that had been dispatched into this city. Her Californian blonde hair was slightly bleached from the sun while freckles graced the bridge of her nose and her cheeks somewhat. She looked the youngest amongst the four of them, even with her hair tide back into a ponytail allowing her side bangs to angle down past her cheekbones. She was standing near Rafe who had now turned toward the boy also, his dark blue eyes showing some amusement in the scene that was unfolding. He would wait it out, Miranda knew, and watch what the boy attempted to do rather than stop him.

Turning back toward the kid, she watched as he extended his arm and with a flash of light an object appeared. He held it somewhat like a sword, although Miranda couldn't really describe what it looked like. She knew that her face registered shock when it had occurred, for she had never saw anything like that in her life, but it was just _weird_. She watched as his eyes, a bright aqua color, narrowed at the group of military operatives with mistrust. Miranda felt the gun she had been holding get quickly taken away by Shane, his teeth gnawing on the bottom of his lip as he fiddled with the gun some more. If anything were to happen, she knew he wouldn't want to be caught without a weapon.

"Put that toy away kid, you don't want to get yourself hurt." Sharax commanded, her voice echoing against the walls of the room. Although this would normally cause most to drop their arms, the boy simply smirked as he held onto the sword even tighter. Miranda looked back at the officer, who had narrowed her own brown eyes, and was motioning her hand toward the gun that was in its holster. "I said put it down." Instead of dropping the sword-like object he carried, the boy brought it further in front of himself, daring Sharax to make the first move.

"Hey, I fixed it!" Shane announced, his voice ringing throughout the room as the tension that had previously been there was cut. Everyone turned toward the young man, who was smiling proudly at what he had accomplish, but the smile was quickly dropped as he caught everyone's stares. Miranda watched as his face began to turn red as he attempted another smile, "Uh, the gun… It's… Not jammed anymore?" Shane looked at Sharax who was now glaring at him furiously, her eyes gone to slits as she clenched her jaw. Instantly, his hands went up into a surrendering position, "Hey I didn't mean to interrupt your little western showdown thing you got going on but I just thought I would let you guys know that I fixed it 'cause it's uh, not broken anymore and I… I did it myself!" He said, suddenly beaming, "You see this little cartridge thingy? I hit it and uh, I hit it precisely so it went back into place perfectly! Just like I-"

Suddenly the gun in question went off loudly, causing the Rylie to jump up in surprise and glare at Shane. His face flushed a further red as he laughed nervously, his eyes searching everyone's faces, "Oops, my bad…" Miranda watched as he held the gun further away from himself before moving slightly away from the group, intimidated by the glares that were sent his way.

"Riku!" A young girl ran from the next room into this one, her face worried with fear of what may have happened to her friend. Her cherry-red hair was almost as long as the boy's, just past her shoulders, while her eyes were a bright periwinkle color. Her outfit was interesting as well, all a bright pink except for the buckles that were here and there upon it. As she began to notice the group of people, her eyes looked up at the boy named Riku with slight relief as she timidly hid behind him.

Sighing heavily, Rylie moved toward Sharax with confidence, her green eyes looking down at the shorter woman. "There's no point in fighting right now, do they _look_ like those creatures we saw?" When the officer simply looked away, Rylie smiled slightly before turning toward the two. Miranda hadn't seen the quiet girl act like this before, talking openly while actually taking control of a situation. It was interesting, but she wasn't sure what she thought of the young recruit as of yet.

Rylie, still smiling, walked further away from the group. Riku raised his sword higher in attempt to look threatening, but she wasn't intimidated by this, instead she simply placed her hand onto her hip. "Look, we're not here to fight against people like you." Riku could have laid a guess that they were after the lunatics in this place, like the one that attacked Sora. He levelled his sword and glared at the woman, perturbed by her confidence.

"Well then who are you?" He asked, sword still at the ready.

"We're part of the military," she replied simply.

The silence stretched longer as the two took in this information, but the girl became more relaxed. Peeking out from the side of him, the girl bit her lip anxiously, "Um… Do any of you have potions?" The question was innocent enough. The group of military personnel pulled confused faces and no one responded at first.

What were potions? The only thing Miranda could think of was something that corresponded with witchcraft and wizardry, or maybe even some mad scientists experience. Other than that, she didn't quite understand what the two teens were suggesting. "Potions?"

"Uh," glancing up at her protector, the girl noticeably began to bite her lip even more.

"A friend of ours is injured in the other room but we don't know what to do for him…" The silver haired boy merely stated, his eyes watching as the cloud of confusion cleared away from the military.

"Bring him in this room, its better if we all stayed together rather than being spread out." Rafe suggested, and he watched as the two teens walked out of the room and came back with a brunette that was obviously unconscious. There were so many questions that were running through his mind but he would have to wait until the boy got treated to ask any one of those teens questions.

The young boy worried Miranda; the first thing she had noticed when he was brought into the room was how pale his skin was. The next thing she noticed was the blood on his shirt, a sign that the injury was most likely from the head as there was dry blood on his neck. "How long has he been passed out?" As she asked the question she checked his pulse, it was steady but when she had touched his skin it was cooler than her own.

"Only for about ten minutes," Kairi responded, side glancing at Riku who had his arms crossed now and was focused on every single move Miranda was making. "He got sick before he passed out," she added in, hoping that every detail the both of them had noticed would help Sora get better. Kairi felt that these people were good; after all they didn't seem at all like that man who had attacked them.

"Hmm," Furrowing her brows, the medic began to inspect the wound and took in a sharp breath as she looked at the dark sticky substance in his hair. The injury looked nasty, Miranda winced internally as she imagined what it had felt like. "What exactly happened?" Miranda glanced up at Riku who was still standing in his guard-like position, and with an uncertain look upon his face.

"Um, well there was these sounds and Sora went to check it out…" Kairi began, watching as Miranda took her first aid kit out of her bag and began to look through it. That's exactly what they were looking for, she realized and a sense of hope and relief filled her. "Then I came, because I didn't want him to get hurt on his own, and then a man who was there said something that didn't make sense and…" Pausing, Kairi cleared her throat as emotion caused it to feel thick suddenly. "Hit him hard with a pipe."

"Ahhhh, that makes sense," Miranda cleaned the wound as much as she could before wrapping his head in bandages. "He has a concussion, I can't tell how severe it is yet but depending on how hard the blow was his skull can be fractured. Did he act differently when he woke up the first time? Was there anything else you noticed before he had got sick?"

"He couldn't stand on his own," Riku spoke up, his voice low enough so only the people close by were able to hear but it was still evident. He couldn't trust these 'military personnel', and he could tell that they didn't trust him either. Shifting his eyes away from Sora, he glanced at the other people who were standing farther away and talking in a hushed tone toward each other. No, he couldn't trust them until they began to talk.

The bandaging was done fairly quickly, but just looking at the three teenagers Miranda knew that they hadn't been on the plane. How did they get here if they didn't live here nor were they on the plane when it crashed? Screwing up her face in thought, Miranda watched as Sora began to shift himself awake and instantly grabbed the little flashlight in her pocket. "Sora? Sora, if you can hear me-"

"Yeah, I can hear you," impatience snapped inside him as soon as he had awoken, but he couldn't understand where this feeling had come from. Sora looked up at the woman before him and noted the soft expression on her face, an understanding one that made him feel guilty for rudely interrupting her. "I'm awake," he said, this time with less irritation in his voice.

"I'm Miranda Woods; I'm part of the military. If you don't mind, I would like to ask you several questions but before I do I want you to follow this light with your eyes. Alright?" Miranda watched him nod before she flicked on the flashlight that she now had in her grasp, then she pointed it toward his face and moved it back and forward several times. All seemed to be ok, his sight didn't seem to be affected at all. "Now, what was the last thing you remember before you had passed out?"

A little color came to his cheeks, feeling slightly embarrassed that this female knew about him passing out over something that he should've been able to handle. "I remember seeing this… This dead body-" the image nauseated him still, it was so vivid but this time he could see the way her eyes stared at him glassily, daring for him to stay and end up the same way she had. "-it made me sick… Then I was just so tired, I wanted to go to sleep, so I guess I ended up passing out. I don't even remember passing out." The last part was ended absently as Sora furrowed his brows in concentration, not understanding what was wrong with him.

"Banged your head up pretty good, little guy, didn't ya?" Shane, who must've come when Sora was explaining what was going on, was now grinning.

Sora glanced up at the man, his eyes quickly looking back down at the floor, "Yeah, I guess I did…"

There was an awkward silence after what Sora had said, causing Shane to rub the back of his neck nervously. He hadn't expected any kind of response, and no doubt a serious one that would cause him to just feel bad about what he said. After all, Shane was just joking around. Intending to retreat, he felt himself bump into someone as he backed up. Turning ever so slightly, he instantly gave a salute to Rafe before stepping aside.

The general eyed the silver haired boy with interest, "I'm Rafe, the General of this operation."

First of all, Riku wondered what kind of operation they were running in the first place. Why was the military in this place that seemed as though there should be no sane humans within it? It didn't make sense to him, but as long as they were with these people he would find out sooner or later. "Name's Riku." The both gripped each other's hands, giving a firm handshake before they let their hands drop by their sides. Not once did their eyes leave each others, both held suspicion within them. Furrowing his brows, Riku assessed the man a little more. Nearing his thirties while a military cut graced his head, his features were hard set, and the clothing appeared to be a traditional dark green. Upon closer inspection, he saw that several medals were displayed on the left side of his chest; medals of his accomplishment.

"If you don't mind, there is something I would like to discuss with you." Rafe announced while gesturing into the other room, suggesting that they should speak alone, to give them some privacy. He figured that Riku was sort of the 'leader' within this group of teens, since the other boy was injured he would have to speak to this one.

Riku thought carefully for a moment before stiffly nodding his head. He glanced back to Kairi, and left to follow the General into the room, hand twitching in anticipation of an attack. He wanted to scream, wanted to cry… It was a lot of pressure, he felt responsible for the lives of Sora and Kairi, not to mention the actual mission they were here for was his responsibility too. He could lose it all if this was a trap, was he really making the right decision? He stopped himself suddenly, he couldn't afford to lose it now. He gritted his teeth and slammed the door without a second thought.

The others waited in near silence in the other room, the atmosphere was tense. Miranda and Rylie were trying their hardest to lighten the mood, but Shane and Sharax continued to argue quietly.

"How did you get your gun jammed in the first place? I've never jammed mine just by shooting someone!" Sharax whispered in a confused tone.

"I don't know! It's not my fault!" Shane quickly objected, "Its just a crappy gun!" He turned away so he didn't have to endure her scrutinizing, doubting glare.

"Well maybe you just can't shoot worth shit," she retorted.

Shane spun around and shook his finger at her. "For your information, I was top of my division and had awesome records in the shooting range!" His face reddened with anger as he started to stalk away.

"What did you do, shoot at tin cans in your daddy's backyard? Was that your so called shooting range?" Sharax challenged. The truth was they weren't enemies, Sharax actually found the boy quite amusing, and the arguing took her mind off the situation.

Before Shane could formulate a reply there was a sound in the next room. Sounded like strange hissing voices. Everyone stopped talking and stared at the door. Nothing was heard for a moment and then suddenly gunshots pierced the silence, and screams followed quickly. The gunshots stopped and a clattering noise was heard, like a gun skidding across the floor. A cracking noise was heard and the screaming of someone stopped abruptly. The other was still yelling and screaming, but as they listened in shock, the noises got further and further away.

Shane was the first to break out of the shock induced trance they were all trapped in. "Rafe!" Before Shane was able to rush ahead into the room, a hand clasped his shoulder and pulled him back, pushing him to the ground. The sudden move had him looking up at Sharax in fury, "What the hell?! Rafe needs our help; he could be fucking dying right now!" He watched as she pulled out the gun from her holster and pointed it at his head, her own cold anger simmering just beneath her skin. The move was quick and had Shane's eyes widen with shock before narrowing to glare at the higher ranked woman.

She had no patience for anyone at this moment and time, and dealing with someone as quick to anger as Shane was simply wasting precious time they could be using to look for the general. "Rafe needs help, but not yours. You're useless with that weapon, Miranda and I will take care of it." Keeping the gun in her hands, she looked at Miranda who drew her own gun and stood up away from the brown haired boy. She wasn't going to tolerate any mistakes, and with Shane around someone would most likely get hurt, or far worse.

"Why is Miranda going!? She's a medical officer; the kid needs her more than me!" Shane shouted now, pushing himself off of the ground and standing toe to toe with the lieutenant. "I don't care what kind of weapon I have, I can just use Miranda's or Rylie's instead of my own if you're worried about it getting jammed again."

"Miranda is the medical officer, so if Rafe or that other kid obtained any injury than she will be able to help them on site. You should stay here and fix your weapon properly. Taking Miranda's or Rylie's will only disarm them, and create more problems." Sharax gave Shane a hard look and she watched him stumble back from the venom in her words, it was harsh but it was what had to be done. "Rylie, watch over the kids. No one leaves this area unless I say otherwise." Turning away from the group, who was now staring at her, she began to walk toward the opening of the entrance. "Miranda, let's go."

"No, wait!" Kairi, finally able to find her voice, stood on shaky legs to face the second in command. She nervously met Sharax's gaze, her hands intertwining with one another as she glanced down at Sora. If he wasn't injured, he would go after Riku. She could see it in the pained look he had upon his face, and the way his hand twitched in wanting to bring forth his keyblade. No, she wouldn't let her friend die because she was too _weak_ to help another friend. "I need to help him!"

"Look, your only going to slow us down. Hell, you probably don't have a _clue_ on how to deal with a situation like this." Sharax watched as the girl's hands clenched into fists with the anger that began to boil beneath her skin. As harsh as it was, it was true; she had rushed in to _help_ her friend earlier when a gunshot was heard, not thinking about what was occurring and leaving her injured friend unprotected. "You're just going to be a damsel in distress, now sit down and help your friend."

Kairi was intimidated by the taller woman and was going to protest more but when she met the steely eyed gaze of the second in command, she sat down quietly. Maybe she was right, what could she do to help them anyways? Her eyes lowered to the floor in despair, she felt so useless.

"Alright, lets move out!" Sharax commanded and took the lead, Miranda following swiftly.

When they entered the room, the walls were covered with fresh blood. Shells of the bullets were littered across the floor, and looking down Sharax saw the body of a disfigured man. There were plenty of gunshot wounds in his chest, but what had ended his life was the cut that was clearly across the throat. From that, there was a pool of crimson liquid getting bigger by the minute on the floor. Analyzing the area, Sharax noticed on the far side of the room the general's gun lay abandoned. This meant that he was unarmed, and if they were captured, the Riku's sword-like weapon would be only too easily removed from his grasp, rendering him useless as well.

"Look," Miranda motioned toward the floor where a trail of blood leaded farther into the depths of the building. Whose blood it was, they didn't know, but either way someone was injured and needed their help. They had already faced a couple other monsters, some of who were far more dangerous than the others, but they hadn't seen any that had done this before. Taken their prey somewhere else, where it would be safer for them to feed on the bodies. "They shouldn't be too far off," she snapped suddenly, a look of terror in her eyes as if a horrible epiphany had struck her. "Rafe!" She cried.

Miranda lost her military professionalism and barged ahead of Sharax tearing off into another room in hopes of finding their commanding officer. "Miranda stop!" Sharax commanded, attempting to establish order to her fellow comrade, but to no avail. One was never to run into an unsecured area without checking for threats beforehand, and in this place the unpredictable could very well be waiting around any corner. Sharax charged after the wayward girl, following the bloody path before her. She ran, catching up to Miranda and plunging ahead of her. Still at a dead run, she yelled over to the girl, "Don't you ever barge ahead like that again, you could have been killed." Miranda gave her an apologetic look and fell back behind a little. Satisfied, Sharax slowed the pace until they were at a brisk walk, still following the trail.

The hall opened up into a large, rectangular room where the trail was clearly marked and easy to see. Sharax raised her weapon and checked around her before continuing into the space. They both walked quickly, and stayed with the trail as best they could. A sudden noise somewhere in the ceiling caught their attention and both immediately moved back to back and checked above them. A slight stream of dust fell from the rafters and something scuttled around. Sharax listened for further noise, but it seemed as though whatever it was had stopped moving. "Let's move on." Sharax commanded quietly and moved ahead again, following the blood.

The trail itself was not consistent; it was thinning in some places and quite thick in others. In fact now that whoever was injured was starting to either run out of blood, or stop bleeding, the path teetered off completely in some areas and Sharax had to look around to find the next part of the crimson trail. In doing so she also detailed the area they were in. The ceilings were wooden boards, looking like at any moment they would break simply under their own weight, the walls were covered in awful green wallpaper that had been torn in places and burned in others. A bench lay flipped upside down in the far corner, having been ripped by the bolts out of the floor. Along the walls, were advertisements, and odd ones at that. "Fire Plasmids, be the first on your block to light things on fire at will!" A pretty blonde woman was shown with fingernails encompassed in flames, "The power of Big Daddies at your fingertips!" A fat man stood next to a large beastly creature in an oversized diver's suit with a drill attached to its hand. Sharax's mind whirled with the thought of what had possibly gone on down here, right under the military's nose. There was a door just ahead of them now. A green light blinked just to the right of it.

Sharax side stepped the last few feet, gun poised in case of any interference. She slammed her back against the wall, turning to check into the room they were about to leave, before being followed by Miranda a second later. Sharax let go of her gun with her right hand and reached out to push down on the luminous green button. She had assumed it controlled the door because of its location, but when she pressed it nothing happened.

Her heart sped up a fraction, but with careful control she managed to slow it back down. She had been trained to do such things. With a longer exhale than normal, she checked the trail again, it lead straight to the door. Whoever had been dragged from the room had gone through the door they were faced with. Sharax looked at the door, then at her gun.

Her gun was a heckler and Koch mp5. It felt good in her hands. She liked the weight of it, and it made her feel powerful, like any firearm should. It was a sleek ebony assault weapon that she had always favored over the other arms the military had provided her with during training, and practices. Host to a variety of dangerous assets including a slotted flash suppressor, blank firing attachment, an adaptor for launching rifle grenades, and a cup-type attachment used to launch tear gas grenades. She could remember the first time she had laid eyes on her own Heckler. She had been nineteen and already in the army for a year and a half. She was early for target practice because of a dream that had shaken her from a deep sleep at 4 in the morning, when she came upon the lieutenant who was instructing, he had presented her the beautiful weapon that she endeared to immediately.

Sharax was jerked from her slightly wayward thoughts by another noise like the scuttling near the ceiling. Something was definitely moving around up there. Listening closely it sounded like the thing was trying to be swift and stealthy with its movements, it sounded sentient. Her eyes widened slightly to search the inverted floors and she confirmed to herself by calculating the sound that it was something large and presumably dangerous, possibly similar to whatever had captured their commander. Sharax thought she heard the door make a quiet mechanical thumping noise, like a contraption attempting to work but being blocked. She took the butt of her Heckler and still keeping her back to the door and wall, rammed her gun against the middle of the steel entry. The machine made a long groaning noise and shifted behind her. The thing in the ceiling moved again and more dust showered down, somewhere near the middle of the room.

Sharax didn't dare take her eyes off of the inner roof, and she hit the door again, hoping to provoke a more useful reaction. The thing in the rafters was becoming less careful now and increasingly quick and sharp with its movements.

Upon closer examination, the ceiling was made from wood and seemed quite unyielding, but there were holes. They were barely noticeable, but the planks had been torn away in places enough so that someone or something would be able to get through. There were three places where this defect was prominent. One of the flaws was far back across the room, near to where they had entered, but off to the left. The next was very small, probably not big enough for a person to fit through, it was also located back where they had entered but to the right and in the corner. The last of the punctures was nearly overhead of where they stood now, and it was definitely large enough for someone to crawl through.

The metal obstacle behind her emitted a low whale like groan, before suddenly changing pitch and transforming into a loud metallic screech. The door jerked and started to slide upwards. Sharax spared a glance downwards and glimpsed a small opening between the bottom of the broken door and the floor. Measuring the distance in her head she calculated that the opening was still too small for either her or Miranda to fit through. Unbelievably, the door groaned to a halt again.

Sharax heard Miranda intake sharply in frustration, it was a stressful situation. Whatever was in the ceiling was moving again, and it had slowed back to its stealthy pace. Sharax listened and could hear the faint, not entirely drowned out protests of the boards being carefully stepped upon. She gripped her Heckler firmly and brought the back end of it down upon the door again.

The door creaked and shifted, continuing its slow, unsteady journey upwards. Sharax looked over to Miranda and saw her eyes were wide and staring. The ceiling creaked softly nealy above them and Sharax risked a look down at the door. The space was just wide enough now for them to roll under. Motioning to Miranda she cocked her Heckler and waited for the younger woman to crawl through. Miranda laid down, and holding her gun firmly rolled sideways under the doorframe.

The creature in the rafters must have known because once again it sped up, taking Sharax's heart rate along. Sharax grit her teeth and dropped her guard, falling to her hands and knees so quickly she scraped her elbow on a piece of glass lying on the ground. She held her gun tightly in her grasp and rolled under the door. She heard the thing in the ceiling give a screech of frustration. As soon as Sharax exited the room the door thankfully clanged shut, partly due to Miranda's shooting of the bolts above the doorway. Sharax climbed to her feet and placed a hand over her eyes for a moment to calm her pounding heart.

The two women cast a reassuring glance in each other's direction before Sharax began to lead the way again. Her adrenaline was still quite elevated, and she was moving through the hallway quicker than she should have been. Her check signals to Miranda were so uncoordinated and muddled that she would have been surprised if Miranda was able to follow her body language relays. Sharax repressed her panicked thoughts and retreated into her mind, quietly finding peaceful revenue and controlling her adrenaline rush that was taking over. She slowed their pace to a stop, to double take their surroundings.

Miranda fidgeted quietly behind her, she could hear her feet shuffling slightly. The medical officer wasn't someone who had restless tendencies; she never felt the need to shuffle around like Shane did when he was nervous. She had to be extremely stressed before she gave in to nervous movements such as shuffling or wringing her hands. Sharax was convinced to the core that she would have seen Miranda doing exactly that if she had turned to look at the quietly distraught woman. "Sharax," Miranda's motherly voice sounded small, the weight of the place had crushed her confidence. The size of the city had never intimidated Sharax, neither the fact that it was submerged under the cold, heartless Atlantic waters, but hearing the twinge of fear in her officer's voice brought a wave of cold dread over her.

"Yes?" Sharax asked genuinely, her usual careless tone had been replaced with something that could have been conceived as concern.

"What will… I mean, will we get…" She paused with nervous tension. "Actually, never mind, sorry." She finished apologetically.

Sharax was disturbed by her change in attitude, but decided not to press the girl's issue. She surveyed quickly and noted several things. They were at a join in the hallway; Sharax looked ahead and observed two signs. One pointed left read "fighting Mcdonagh" while the other hanging a little further down the hallway was inscribed with the words "Jet Postal". The steps lead either left or right, the thin, bloody line trailed off to the right hall. Sharax turned to signal Miranda, but she was looking in awe at the walls, which Sharax noted and then looked herself. The hallway walls and ceiling were composed completely from glass, and momentarily distracted the girls. They both gazed out as a squid propelled itself lazily overhead, following a school of fish off into the depths. Firearms still at the ready, they continued, taking the right turn and cautiously manoeuvred down the steps.

Due to the transparent walls Sharax was able to view the door around the corner before they came around the bend. It was similar to the one they had just encountered, but there was no control on this one. Engraved into the door were murals of waves and fish, the city had clearly adhered to its location, in many ways. Sharax wondered how they were going to break the door down, when it suddenly slid open as they approached.

The sudden movement startled Sharax, and she fought the urge to jump so badly that her head ached for a moment. She muttered something that was nothing but a jumble of annoyed sounds so softly that her own ears could not perceive them. The door slid upwards into the ceiling and Miranda and Sharax crept stealthily through the doorway and into the Jet Postal.

The steady sound of dripping substance echoed in the seemingly vacant room. It was a small room with two pillars being the center of attention, a carpet lying between them. A dark crimson, reflective substance pooled at the bottom of the right pillar. The soldiers walked down the few steps into the room, and did a quick check.

Sharax looked to the left, observing a desk, a bench and behind the pillar, a. . . vending machine? She eyed Miranda and left the entrance slowly to approach the contraption. When she came within about five feet the coin-operated machine lit up and cackled to life. "Welcome to the circus of value!" A large clown face sitting atop the machine screeched into the tense atmosphere. Sharax fought the urge to jump again and gave herself another headache as she backed off quickly choosing not to entice any more screaming from the 'circus of value'.

Somewhere a record player was softly singing a French, or possibly Italian sonnet that could have at one time sounded joyful. However in the desertion it was an unnatural sound, and the voice pitched and seemed unnecessarily high and to hit unmelodious notes. Papers lay strewn aimlessly about the grossly unclean floor. Bits of debris were littered on the ground also, along with several unopened letters.

Sharax and Miranda moved between the pillars and looked around. As they moved around Miranda noticed the pool of blood at the bottom of the right pillar, she looked upwards, only for her eyes to meet two rotting human bodies hanging out of a hole in the ceiling. A sparking electrical cord hung between them, waving back and forth. Miranda gagged and looked away, after confirming that neither body was Rafe.

There was a cage like part of the wall with a square hole in it to the left that the two decided to go and check out. They followed the wall until they could see through the cage type mesh separating the public from the Post office workers. Behind the mesh was (blood) a cash register, a desk, some pep bars, and behind the desk area, a row of large mailbox type objects. They could see a little

behind the mailbox things, there were shelves and cubby holes for storing letters. Other than that nothing much else of importance could be seen. _Drip, drip, drip. _The source of the echoing sound couldn't be located in the front of the postal office. Miranda listened carefully, and she heard breathing from around behind the mailbox objects. She broke out in a cold sweat.

Sharax motioned to Miranda. There was a door to the left of the desk at the back that entered into the classified area of the postal office. The (blood) trail that the two had followed could be barely made out now, but it clearly could have only gone one way, and that was through the door. Once again as they approached, the door opened softly, this time sliding into the left wall.

The two stepped into the room and as they did a slight moan could be heard from around the corner. A bookcase and the mailboxes were separating them from whatever was making the noise. Sharax could feel her pulse speed up and her jaw clenched involuntarily. Miranda walked ahead and peered around the corner of the bookcase with her gun at the ready. "Rafe?" She whispered softly, and urgently. Sharax glared and nearly grabbed the girl to drag her back, but suppressed her instinct. Miranda looked around and Sharax joined her on the other side of the bookcase. There was a slight struggle, and another, louder moan could be heard from somewhere higher above. Both soldiers cast their gaze upwards. Miranda screamed as blood poured to the floor.


	3. Preface of Fatality

Here it is.

Finally we've finished it. The new chapter is up and the cliffhanger is no more. Sorry about the delay… the writing has been slow lately and the story was temporarily put on hold to edit the second chapter and such. It's just been tough to get going again. But… I think we're finally back into the story again.

We're planning again and are already underway with chapters 4 and 5 so hopefully that's a bit comforting.

Well we left off with Miranda and (we've changed the name of the second in command because of reasons that involve my co-writer not being able to pronounce her name *glare*) Ashelyn in the Post office looking for Rafe and Riku. They stared up suddenly in shock as blood poured to the floor. Here we go then… enjoy the ride.

-

Miranda screamed as blood poured to the floor. The two women stared up at the wall above them. The wall was slick with blood, and grime, and a row of dirty hooks was sticking out of the wall. A screech of triumph sounded and a gurgling laughter followed and died. Miranda and Ashelyn could only stare in wide eyed shock, they were too stunned to move even when the two mutants crawled their way out of the ceiling gargling their heads off. They were too captivated by the scene before them.

In the center of the row of dirty hooks before them was Rafe. He had been ripped apart, his clothes hung around his beaten torso like skin off a decomposing skeleton, and there were large penetrating gashes in his body and lacerations to his face and torso, he was missing a chunk of his left leg, his head was bleeding, and the blood had masked the whole right half of his face. He had been hung up on the hooks carelessly like a ragdoll. But that wasn't the worst of it...

His entrails were hanging out of him. The bloody, stringy organs were hanging outside his body. Miranda almost threw up. Suddenly a thought forced its way into her mind. Carving a pumpkin with her father on Halloween, he made the incision for the lid and pulled it up, bringing all of the pumpkin's insides with it. She screamed with giddy excitement at the unexpected wonder, and stared with curiosity. "Daddy! Those are his inny parts! They don't belong out here!" She laughed in delight. Now she stared in horror as Rafe's "inny parts" hung in great bloody strings that trailed down his stomach and past his waist. And yet...

**He was still alive. **

A deep moan escaped his lips and blood bubbled up, a thick, crimson froth dripping out his mouth and down his chin. The mutants seemed to have no real interest in the girls, they both advanced slowly upon Rafe who was sitting helpless on the wall.

Rafe was clearly aware of what was happening. He stared up at the mutants advancing on him, his eyes darted for an escape, a weapon, anything, even though he knew it was too late. It was his military instinct that kept him going even after an ordeal such as his. He raised his hands slowly and jerkily, trying to grasp the hooks on either side of him so he had some leverage to lift himself off the hook he was impaled by.

There was of course no way he could have ever made it. He tried to lift himself and failed, his hands falling to his sides. He suddenly grunted and threw up chunks of blood and bile. He groaned in agony, and it was all he could muster. Hearing this snapped Miranda out of her stunned state of mind.

"Stop!" She yelled aiming her gun towards the mutants, hoping to halt their advance on their leader. Ashelyn looked at the girl beside her, only to find tears were streaming down the young woman`s face. Ashelyn tried to keep her composure, but it was difficult to see her fellow comrades in such a state. Her heart burned with the pain of seeing Rafe the way he was, she wanted to help him too, but she knew Miranda felt more towards him.

Ashelyn had known for a while that Miranda and Rafe had been in a serious relationship for a number of years before the army became as strict as it had, relationships were discouraged because it meant soldiers that had stronger emotional connections and would therefore act less rationally in difficult situations. They had always been rather close afterwards, but as far as Ashelyn knew there had been no real relationship between them since.

Ashelyn felt the sting of tears before she furiously blinked them away. She couldn`t imagine what kind of pain Miranda was feeling right now. ``Stop! Damnit, STOP!`` Miranda shrieked, sobbing now, her gun shaking in her hands. The mutants never took notice of her though; they in fact started laughing again.

A strange sound wound itself through the air, and Ashelyn felt a slight tingle etched its way through her body. She stared, transfixed at one of the mutants, He was grinning and his eyes were bulging out of his head like a frog`s, and it was making her stomach queasy. Suddenly his face seemed to warp and she thought she must have been getting dizzy from her stomach, but a second later his face disappeared entirely. In fact, his body disappeared completely. A reddish smoke wafted in the area he had just occupied. The shrieking laughter of the remaining mutant resonated through the air like a bullet, penetrating the two girls. _My god, what the hell is wrong with them, why are they laughing!? _The thought raced through Ashelyn`s mind and a twinge of anger tugged at the edges of her lips. She felt something odd, like a muted electric shock ripple through her body, and the red mist that she had seen before suddenly was behind her, and she turned just in time to see the mutant`s ugly face sneering and gibbering, before she was beaten over the head, pummelled so hard by the being`s fists that it was like being hit with a brick. Miranda didn't even turn, she didn`t have a chance to move before she too was disabled by the mutated human with the dangerous appendages.

As the world drifted back into her conscious, Ashelyn realised she was lying pinned to the floor. Miranda was in a similar predicament, as she shifted her eyes over to examine the other girl she found that Miranda was crying again, and whimpering. They were both being held down by the mutant with the bulging eyes, a hand around Miranda`s neck and the other on Ashelyn`s head, grinding their faces into the dirty floor. Their weapons had been removed, she could tell, the familiar and comforting presence of her Heckler and Cotch was missing, she could not feel it on her side anymore and could only assume they had done the same with Miranda`s.

A low moan drifted through the air. They must not have been out for more than a minute because Rafe was still alive, barley. She couldn`t see him though because her face was being pushed away from the wall. She tried to move her hands but it felt like they were being weighed down by something.

Miranda started sobbing now. ``No... no... no... oh god... ahhhhh... please no...`` She whispered, choking on her words. She could see Rafe. He was still hanging on the wall as helpless as before, blood dripping everywhere, _how could one person bleed that much?_ She noticed that Rafe looked extremely pale now, and he was having difficulty keeping his eyes open, but seemed determined to continue to watch the mutant that was eyeing him up. The mutant in question was right next to him now, drooling like a dog.

"What do you think Gary? I think we should share him." It gurgled out as it drooled, lazily staring over at the `Gary` thing that was restraining the girls. The 'Gary' thing simply opened its jaws and laughed, drool also pouring out of its mouth, and dripping down its chin. "I think so too Gary. I think sooooooo tooooo!" The thing on the wall slobbered out, its mouth hanging loose. Miranda could hardly keep her stomach under control, the urge to throw up was almost overwhelming. "But you know something?" it`s eyes got wider as it looked at the `Gary` in mock questioning. Rafe hung, eyes half closed and gurgled again, blood covered the hansom contours of his face, and his body that had once been taught and muscular was in shreds, his soft tanned skin was now pale and dirty. The man looked nothing like what he was. "We can`t share him... if he's still in one piece!" The mutant shrieked insanely.

"No! Ahhhhgguu... odg, plllease leave him alooone!" Miranda couldn`t fathom the thought of Rafe being ripped apart alive by these monsters. The 'Gary' thing smashed her face into the floor, and threw her into a coughing fit. She retched and turned her head just in time to vomit away from herself, having lost complete control of her stomach.

The thing on the wall was shrieking again, it`s laughter was like a banshee having a seizure. It leaped downwards and landed with a sort of clumsy grace on the wooden floors. It was like watching a toad trying to do ballet. It stood up to its full height and a bit more, craning it`s neck upwards to look down at the two girls. It was a tall and imposing creature standing at about 7 feet high or so, wearing a ragged outfit composed of a dark grey muscle shirt, and red jogging shorts that were torn up and covered in mud and grime. His hair was dark brown, slicked back with something that looked like (_blood_) grease. It, or He, sneered down at them through cat-like eyes.

He dribbled, staring waywardly at his friend. "It smells good, doesn`t it Gary?" The `Gary` thing shook and made a noise, "Gaaaahhh!" Ashelyn glared upwards at the creature. She swore if it got too much more excited, it`s bulging eyes would fall out of its goddamn head. Her eye twitched at the thought.

The suave and lanky man thing turned towards Rafe slowly with devious nature. "It smells so gooood! It`s making me hungry." He waltzed up to the military general, like a kid skipping down to the candy store. Miranda stared anxiously at Rafe. His eyes were wide, his face was pale, and if not for his clear expression of fear she would have thought him dead. Rafe groaned loudly again, he coughed slightly as well, his body shook violently on the hook.

The man thing's sadistic sneer dropped from his face suddenly. He looked at Rafe for a moment and frowned, "He _is_ rather irritating isn't he Gary?" He walked straight up to Rafe and slugged the grown man in the face. Rafe continued to moan as fresh pain hit him. The man thing screeched, "My god, why won't you SHUT UP!?" He hit Rafe again across the face harder than the last time. The thing turned to the girls with sick interest, "I'll just finish him off... that will shut him up, won't it Gaaaaaarrry?" He smirked and Miranda caught a glimpse of something animalistic in his eyes. She started to struggle in a panic.

Of course Rafe was already going to die any minute. He should be dead now, but he wasn`t, just not quite all the way yet, and as long as he was still breathing, it was her mission to help save him from being ripped apart by these creatures. There was nothing she could do though. Miranda had never felt so helpless in her life. She sobbed and tried to escape, but her arms felt numb and the hand pushing into her neck was digging in so hard that she felt short of breath. The creatures drooled and the man thing turned back to Rafe and grabbed the man`s legs and began tugging on them, trying to rip Rafe in half at the waist. Miranda gave a pained cry, and turned her head to Ashelyn.

Ashelyn looked scared and alone, she was being pushed into the floor by the head so she couldn`t turn to look at what was happening. She could only listen. Tears stained her cheeks as she cried silently, and her breathing sounded like hissing because of her body`s suppressed need to hyperventilate. She looked Miranda in the eyes. "I`m ssssorry."

"He`s a bit tough, isn`t he Gary!?" the man thing screamed with joy as it tore at Rafe`s legs this way and that, trying to sever the already torn belly. Rafe couldn`t move his arms or legs for that matter, he hung on the wall, and attempted to scream. It wasn`t a scream though. It would have been better if it had been a scream of pain, at least a scream is a recognizable sound. No, a noise came out of Rafe`s mouth, but it was like a baby animal being choked, a gurgling, unnatural noise. "Ggggghaahaauu." Rafe`s eyes rolled backwards like he was being electrocuted. The noise he was making didn`t stop, he just kept making the noise like he didn`t even need to breathe anymore. It was horrible, and Miranda could hardly bear it without losing her mind. "STOP!" She screamed until her voice was hoarse.

Suddenly the man thing tearing at Rafe spun around, strode over faster than she would have imagined and grabbed her by the hair almost dragging her out of the 'Gary' thing's grasp. He kneeled down to her level and looked her in the eyes. "Hahahahaha! You want me to... stop?" He spat in her face. His eye`s became icy and glazed, his fistful of her hair tightened to the point where she was sure he was going to rip it out of her scalp. She screamed in pain, but was unable to break free. "Make me you whore!" The thing slammed her face into the ground and twisted around to Rafe again.

As soon as he got to Rafe he buried his face in his side and started tearing at him, shaking his head like a dog, ripping the skin in Rafe`s midsection. Blood trickled out the side of Miranda`s mouth in a small stream as her vision restored itself slowly. The man thing was growling and clawing at Rafe, and Rafe was still making the horrible noise. The creature above the girls was laughing like a hyena, squeezing Miranda`s neck so hard she could hardly breathe.

Ashelyn finally let her emotions take control and thrashed and screamed. She could still not see what was going on, and she didn`t know if she even wanted to. She couldn`t take it anymore, her senses were overwhelmed.

The whole thing was chaos. The smell was overwhelming, the dirty smell of the floor combined with Rapture`s natural nauseating stink, and the thing above them smelled like rotting flesh and sour garbage. The sounds, Rafe`s gurgling cry, Miranda`s sobbing and screaming and the creature`s demented laughter all combined into one hellish clamour. Dirt and blood was everywhere. Everything became one huge blur of horror like a nightmare you convince yourself isn`t real and suddenly realize you can`t ever wake up from.

Suddenly Rafe stopped making the noise.

Miranda looked up. The man thing grabbed Rafe around the waist, it`s fingers digging into his sides. He twisted Rafe`s legs around till they were facing backwards and there was a loud cracking noise. With one final jerk, Rafe`s body was completely divided. His legs came away in the man thing`s arms and dropped heavily to the floor, taking his intestines with them. "NOOOO!" Miranda felt like she was being stabbed with a dagger through the heart. There was a sick tearing noise and Miranda saw two large pale pink organs come falling out of Rafe`s torso and realized they were his lungs. Several other round, slimy organs fell out as well, making faint `plop` -ing noises as they hit the floor. The man thing sidestepped over Rafe`s legs, that were lying on the floor, and shoved his arm into the military general`s upper torso and began feeling around for something. He grinned as he reaped havoc on Rafe`s insides. Then he jerked his hand out with a quick, whipping motion. Rafe`s heart was in his hands, and he gripped it tightly and sneered, showing off his vampire-like incisors. He lowered his head and took a great big bite out of it, the blood gushing out the corners of his mouth and running down his chin and neck, staining the already filthy muscle shirt he was wearing. He chewed and swallowed. Then opened his mouth and sighed heavily, closing his eyes in pleasure.

"You BASTARD!" Miranda was through with this. Her body surged with adrenaline and without thinking she turned her head and bared her own teeth, biting down as hard as she could on the 'Gary' things finger. 'Gary' howled in pain and flinched, taking his hand away from Miranda long enough for her to escape. Quickly she rolled out of the way and looked around for a weapon of some sort. Seeing a shimmer, she glanced to her right and quickly snatched up a piece of broken glass on the floor. Miranda stood quickly, ignoring the feeling of heaviness her body still felt.

Unable to control her rage, she held the glass purposefully and upon the thing with deadly intent. She intended to take revenge on whatever it was. The pain it had caused her late fiancé was nothing compared to what she wished she could do to it. Before she could attack him though, the 'Gary' thing leaped at her and punched her, throwing her across the room. She hit the wall and fell to the floor trying hard to regain her breath. The 'Gary' thing attaked her again and she fought back with the glass, desperately trying to stay alive.

Ashelyn stood shakily and looked frantically for their weapons but could not see them, she stared and suddenly locked eyes with the thing holding Rafe`s heart. It smirked, "Well how rude of me not to share... here, have a taste, I insist!" he whipped the dead organ at her and she covered her face instinctively to block it. It bounced off her arms and she uncovered her eyes to find herself not six inches away from the man thing in the red jogging shorts. He licked his lips and made to backhand her, but she wasn`t completely out of it. She ducked, or meant to, she fell instead still feeling quite numb. It grabbed her and dragged her up by the arm and she struggled, punching him in the face furiously. He dropped her and fell back, holding a hand over his face and glaring at her from through his fingers.

Miranda ran up to the `Gary` thing and attacked it with the glass. It screamed in pain and it`s bulging eyes were wider than ever. Miranda slashed at its arms and legs before catching sight of its eyes. God she hated its eyes. Why were they so big? And why did they look like they were always about to fall out? It was wrong! Her mind reeled with hatred and rage. `Gary` stumbled and fell over clutching his sliced stomach, and Miranda cried out and jumped on him, stabbing at his eyes with the glass blade. He closed his eyes and tried to block her with his hands but she merely cut them too and continued stabbing at his eyes.

Ashelyn struggled to her feet to face the man thing again, and readied herself for his attack. He only grinned and disappeared in a cloud of red smoke. Ashelyn panicked, where was he? She looked behind and felt the same muted shock as before and the red smoke clouded her vision right in front of her. His hand reached out and pummelled her across the head and she was knocked to the floor again. He kneeled down and grabbed her head, quickly smashing her face into the ground again. Ashelyn tried again to get up but her vision wavered and she saw spots of color floating in front of her eyes, then everything went black and she slumped to the floor.

The man thing looked at her curiously. Her auburn hair fell around her face in a way that was familiar to him. It reminded him of his daughter, who was of course a little sister now, but still it sparked emotion in him that had been dormant before. He grabbed her round the waist and lifted her up as if she were weightless. Looking back at Gary, he saw the other woman stabbing his lifeless body. She got up off of him, and looked at the man thing, a fire burning in her eyes. He smirked and before he left, he stuck his snakelike tongue out at her and gave her the finger.

Miranda ran towards the thing holding Ashelyn, but before she could get anywhere near enough the man thing held up a certain offending finger at her before disappearing in a cloud of reddish mist. Miranda stood at the ready, waiting for him to reappear, but she only sat in silence. He didn`t come back.

"Ashelyn!" Miranda broke down. Her head hurt, she was covered in blood, her comrade was abducted, her body felt weak and she was cut all over, her closest friend was dead and cut in half, she had just killed a man and gouged it`s eyes out for god's sake! What was she becoming? She fell to her knees and started sobbing, her hand that held the piece of glass began shaking and she let go of the sharp tool. There was a huge, deep gash across her palm that she had obtained from gripping the glass too tightly when she was stabbing the `Gary` thing.

"What do I do now!?" she cried. There was nothing she could do. Ashelyn had been taken, and there was no way of tracking her since she knew nothing about the teleportation abilities of these creatures. What could she do except go back to her friends and fellow comrades. She pictured Shane sitting impatiently waiting for their return. But how could she face them? They had gone to retrieve Rafe and the young silver haired boy from the creatures that lived down here, and they had gone, Rafe had been killed, Ashelyn had been taken and there was no trace of the teen that they had seen before. There was nothing at all she could do now. She would have to go back.

She looked carefully around the room and found her gun lying in a pile of damp letters, she attached it to her belt again before leaving. She also said her final goodbye to Rafe before she left, saying a small prayer and wishing his soul to heaven, where hopefully he would arrive in one piece. It was upsetting that after being to all sorts of places around the world, and after braving so many dangerous missions and saving many, many lives, that Rafe`s final tomb would be here under the cold, dark Atlantic waters in a Post Office. Miranda wished she could take his body, to bring back to his parents and sister, but she couldn`t bear to touch what had become of him, and she certainly couldn`t carry his parts around until the mission was finished.

Miranda left, making her way back to the others.

* * * * * * * * *

Shane was pacing the room impatiently when Miranda burst back through the double doors. She looked a mess, there was blood and dirt and slime covering her, her uniform was askew and her hair had fallen out of its ponytail and hung around her pale and scared face.

"Miranda, what happened?" The girl stumbled into the room and fell abruptly. Everyone stood, and went to help her. She was suddenly bombarded by questions, so many that it made her head spin. Did you find Rafe? Where's Riku? Are you ok? Is Ashelyn with you? Where did you go? What happened? That question again...

Miranda looked up at Shane. He had asked the question... _again_. She frowned in irritation at the young boy. _He's so annoying, why was he put on this mission anyways? He talks too fast, I hate it when he does that... why doesn't he just go off and get himself captured, watch his friends get ripped in half, then maybe he'd mature a little._ She glared at him through her bloody hands she covered her face with. He continued waving his arms and asking her questions. She couldn't even understand what he was saying anymore, she groaned, _when would he just shut up? _

She murmured quietly and the whole room went silent. Shane leaned down over her, "What was that Miranda? What did you say, didn't catch that..."

She looked him in the eyes, "I said shut up Shane." Her body still trembled from her nerves going crazy. All she wanted to do was be left alone. She thought as she was running back that all she needed to do was get to her friends and she would feel better... but... she only felt more irritated. So many people, questions and noise, it was all too much for her battered system to cope with.

He stared blankly, blinking a few times. Then he moved closer to her, forcing himself into her line of vision as he took hold of her shoulders, "Miranda, come on. You need to tell us what happened-" He pleaded with her.

"I don't want to," she tried to shrug him off, not wanting any contact with the young man, but only ended up looking off to the side. "Let me go..." She whispered, but her words went unheard as Shane continued to question about the previous events.

"We need to know what happened to Rafe, where's Ashelyn?" Shane wondered why Miranda seemed so shocked, and why she wouldn't talk to them, they HAD to know what happened, he didn't understand why she was keeping the information from them in such a critical moment.

"I said let me go..." Miranda whispered again, her words coming out a bit louder than before as she struggled against his grip. He was stronger than her though, his hands continued to grip her shoulders tightly. His fears began to overwhelm him, if it was so bad she couldn't bring herself to talk about it... he dreaded to think of what had happened to his comrades.

He shook her slightly to bring her out of her stupor, "Miranda, look at me, did you guys get separated?" He asked forcefully with a concerned look glazing over his eyes. "Please Miranda tell us, it's important!" He gripped her shoulders tighter.

"LET GO!" She screamed at him. Shane almost fell backward with the force of her words. He had NEVER heard her raise her voice like that. She sounded murderous.

"Whoa, it's ok. I'll let go..." Shane pulled away to give her the space she so desperately needed.

"Piss off Shane, I'm serious." She was right; Shane could see it in her eyes. They were fierce with hate, and fire shone in their murky blue depths. She looked insane, Shane finally questioned her health and her sanity... _did she even recognize him?_

Miranda's head beat with a heart of its own and as it did, her head pounded painfully. She could barely tell what was going on. She stared at Shane, her trusted friend who was mumbling and shaking his head again and didn't understand why she was so angry at him. He was just so monstrous all of a sudden. She was looking at him in a whole new way. He was just another creature, wait... what if he was a creature!? What if monsters had come and attacked her friends while she'd been away and killed them and took their forms or something. It was science fiction of course, but who knows what could happen in a place that had been messing with genes under the ocean for god knows how long.

She simply couldn't trust them.

Slowly she stood up, backing away from the others as she did, her eyes wide and anxious, as if expecting any moment for them all to morph into monsters and attack her. It was silly of course, they were her friends and she was just nervous and jittery. But... she had been gone with Ashelyn for a long time. Long enough for some creatures to sneak up on the group, attack them and take their forms. They could have even moved the real bodies with the time her and Ashelyn had been missing. Her head hurt very badly.

"Now Miranda please can you tell us what happened to the others?" Shane persisted in a very annoying way that seemed a little out of character, or so she thought. I mean... was he always this persistent? Was he always this interfering? It seemed almost like her was trying to get more than just the information on the others. Miranda glared at him checking for signs that he wasn't himself, odd facial expressions and strange gestures and movement. Shane stared back, perplexed.

Miranda didn't know what to think. Her head hurt and she felt insecure and unsafe. Slowly she reached for her gun. Not to hurt anyone at all! No these were her friends, they weren't monsters, she just needed it to make her feel safe again. She touched the cool metal immediately relief flooded her system. She was safe with her gun in her hands. Holding her gun with both hands, she raised it to eye level and someone screamed. Miranda didn't care, all that mattered was that right now, with her gun, she was safe. Nothing could get at her, if there was a threat she was safe, and if there wasn't... well... she was still safe. She was only being precautious.

A nervous laugh escaped her parted lips as the thoughts raced through her mind's eye. Her head really began to hurt and her vision was swimming. She felt like someone had punched her in the gut, and she started to cry. All of these emotions in her were so powerful and confusing, all she could feel was hurt. She wanted to drop her gun and thrash around and scream, just let all of her emotion out instead of forcing herself to contain it all. Her frail body shook with the restrained energy.

"Ok Miranda, listen, it's ok alright, just put the gun down ok." Shane tried to reason with her. Thoughts bombarded her. Of course he would say that! That's exactly what they wanted. Well screw them, she felt safe now, and she wasn't just going to give up her security for someone that she wasn't even sure was her friend anymore. She shook her head slowly and pointed the gun at Shane.

Shane made a nervous sound and stepped closer to her, "Miranda listen to me, ok, just give me the gun ok, then everything will be fine." Miranda let out a pained groan, she couldn't, why all of a sudden could she not trust her friends, she was convinced that he wasn't who she thought he was anymore. She looked around the room at the others.

Rylie and the teenage redhead were both crouched by the young boy she had helped earlier. Rylie looked scared, the look was etched into her features. The other girl resembled a deer in the headlights, her eyes wide and her fists clenched tightly in her lap. The young boy was still sleepy, his eyes showed that he was aware of the situation, but just too exhausted to get involved or interfere. Miranda was alone, dancing with the devil, as it were.

Hah, Shane, the devil? You never knew though. Miranda's teeth started chattering presently, and she could feel her whole body tingling and burning with energy and fear. Miranda stared down Shane and shook her head forcefully, tears started seeping out the corners of her eyes.

Shane took a slow, sliding step towards her and moved his hands as if to take the gun from her. Miranda flinched very badly and cocked the gun, screaming at him, "You back off Shane or so help me!" She let out a few pained sobs, her situation was the worst she had ever been in. She didn't have a clue what to do, dying right now would be bliss.

She was distracted momentarily by her thoughts but was brought back to reality sharply when she felt Shane's hand grab the end of her gun. She let out a shriek and pulled away quickly enough to tear Shane's hand with the front sight on her handgun. "Miranda! Just put the fucking gun down already!" Shane was frustrated now, she had no reason to be acting this way. He held his hand as the blood pooled in his palm. "Fuck…" he mumbled angrily, staring at his palm.

Miranda shook the gun at him and said pleadingly as if to explain herself, "I can't trust you Shane, you-" She was cut off suddenly by Shane's voice, a tone sharper than before.

"Of course you can fucking trust me I'm your friend!" He screeched angrily. He was so confused and frustrated, he had been trying to reason with her and she just wasn't listening to a thing he was saying. Now she decided that she couldn't trust him? It was ridiculous.

Miranda was taken aback slightly by the anger in Shane's voice, but she wasn't convinced of anything, "What if you aren't?" She asked the question as the hysteria rose in her voice, after all what was the point in asking, if he was a mutant, he wasn't going to tell her anyways.

Shane took a vicious step towards her, "What the fuck are you going on about!?" He waved his arms in the air, and then made to grab the gun again; he wasn't going to take any more of this shit. His eyes narrowed as he grabbed at the gun, backing her towards the wall, "Seriously Miranda, what the fuck!?" He yelled.

"STOP saying FUCK!" Miranda shrieked like a dying animal. She couldn't take it anymore. "I swear I'll shoot you!" The gun wavered but Shane still kept coming.

"Miranda, Shane, stop it!" Rylie couldn't stay out of it any longer, she started sobbing. Her comrades were screaming at each other and threatening each other while her commander and second in command were missing, maybe dead. Kairi stood up and protested too, tears creeping out of the corners of her eyes as well.

"Please, stop it!" The two took no notice of the girls though as they cried, helpless and scared, Miranda and Shane only continued to yell.

"Shane! Back off!" Miranda glared at him, her confusion gone now, only anger toyed with her body, especially temping to twitch her index finger curled around the gun's trigger.

"Fuck you! Put down the goddamn gun!" Shane bared himself just daring her to shoot, then made one final attempt to grab the gun from Miranda's grasp and leaped forward.

"SHANE!" Rylie screamed.

Just at the last second, the bloodcurdling scream registered in Shane's brain and he whipped around, spinning his body to the side and away from the muzzle of Miranda's handgun. As soon as he did, the handgun went off.

Miranda had of course shot a gun before. She knew how it felt. Pulling the cool steal trigger, feeling the frail resistance before the trigger gave in and the gun fired, the recoil reverberating in her hands. Holding a gun is a dangerous thing. A gun is a dangerous thing.

They say that guns don't kill people, people do. This was a quote Miranda's father made frequently around the house when she was around. He had served time in the military in World War 2 and disapproved highly of Miranda's choice to, as he put 'squander her talents' in the same field of work. He said it was something he wanted badly to shield her from. His baby girl. He lost interest in her life after she joined the military, he did not want to have to bother trying to have conversation because he did not want to deal with the arguing that always ensued between them. He hated guns and he hated the idea of her using them. In the war he had shot and killed a young child by accident. The experience had destroyed him and that was the reason he didn't want his 'baby girl' involved in the military. Guns lost Miranda her father.

She hated the feeling of shooting a gun. Pulling the cold steal trigger, feeling the frail resistance, almost too frail to be genuine, before the trigger gave in and the gun fired, and ended a life. Holding a gun is a dangerous thing. A gun is a dangerous thing. Guns end lives.

Shane panted, looking Miranda straight in the eyes. "What the fuck were you thinking!? You could have killed me!" But Miranda didn't look at him, she was staring straight ahead, with a look of shock and horror on her face. Shane knew something was terribly wrong. There was a quiet splattering noise behind him. A sense of dread flooded his system so heavily he nearly fell to his knees then and there. He turned to look but before he could even whip his head around, he heard the screams.

"AHHHHHhhhghhhghhhh!!!" The girl staggered backwards and held a hand to her neck as the blood flowed freely over her fingers. The screams began to gargle in her throat as her windpipe filled with blood. "AHHHaaa!" She fell to the floor with a loud crack as her head hit the ground forcefully.

Sora suddenly sprang to life, his throbbing head forgotten, "NOOOOOO!!" He cried, leaping to his feet, and rushing over to Kairi, nearly falling as he ran. Kairi choked and sobbed as she lay on the ground bleeding, hands to her throat. Sora knelt by her and held her fragile, innocent form in his arms as the tears streamed down his face. Her head had cracked off the floor and blood trickled from the wound as well as from her neck. "Kairi! No…" He choked, "Oh god Kairi, stay with me, please!" He screamed at Miranda, "Help her! You're a Medic! DO SOMETHING!" But Miranda was frozen in place, her eyes wide and lifeless.

Kairi made an awful groaning noise and her eyes darted franticly around, as if she were blind. "Kairi! Can you hear me?" Sora held her face in his hands. Her eyes searched, but couldn't see anything. She groaned and started shaking. Sora held her close and cried, rocking back and forth. "It's ok, its ok, its alright, I'm here…igm h-here…" He choked again as his words disappeared and transformed into pained sobbing. She couldn't die! Not after all they'd been through together. Memories flashed through Sora's mind in a whirl.

"_Sora? Don't ever change," _the young voice echoed throughout his mind as he held the bleeding girl in his arms. He could picture the scene as if it were yesterday; both of their gazes set upon the sun that was setting, her hands intertwined neatly behind her back as she stood while he swung his legs back and forth on the dock.

Sora could remember the childish laugh that had emitted from his throat, retorting against the redhead's words. _"What are you talking about Kairi? _You're_ the one that's changed." _He could remember looking up at her, wondering what she meant about the statement, but it quickly made itself absent from his mind over the years. Now, all he could see was the life fleeing from her eyes as she bled to death. How could any of this happen? Only moments before, she was knelt down by his side making sure he was going to be alright.

The blood slowed its flow, and Kairi slowly stopped the violent shaking. Her eyes rolled back and she started to make a strange gurgling noise in the bottom of her throat. Blood trickled out the corner of her mouth and she leaned her head to the side slowly, her eyes closing.

Sora was blinded by tears, his vision so blurry he had to take a moment to comprehend what had just happened. He shook her slightly, willing her to wake up. But death's cold fingers had already begun to wrap her body with a chill. "K-Kairi, c-com'on… w-w-wake up…" His words held the promise that there might be hope left, but the way he spoke told a different story. He knew she was gone. His lifelong friend was dead.

Sora glanced down and noticed the blood soaking his clothes. He suddenly felt very sick, and screwed up his face, trying to rid himself of the feeling. His head hurt so much, the throbbing pain returned and he could barely think. Her voice was still in his mind and he could still hear her last breaths. He had to get out of here.

He stood shakily, holding her body in his arms. Before he left he looked at Miranda once more, the woman who had taken away his Kairi. He gave her an empty look, his voice lost. Then he slowly turned and walked away. He didn't care where he ended up, didn't care where he was going, didn't care if some crazy man came and killed him. In fact, he would welcome death at this point, both his friends were taken from him and he was lost in a strange world. He had nothing to live for anyways.

As the boy walked away with the dead corpse, no one tried to stop him. Shane glanced at Rylie, tears streaking her face, and then he glanced over to Miranda, her eyes dead, and her mind far away. Neither one of them made any move to stop the young boy from leaving. He slowly left the room and his footsteps echoed down the hall until they could no longer be heard.

Shane's anger suddenly boiled over, "What the _fuck_?!" He shouted angrily, his eyes sweeping between the two women in attempt to understand what had exactly taken place. Finally he laid blame upon the medic, her eyes still distant while the gun hung loosely in her hand. "What the fuck is wrong with you!? You're supposed to be trained for this thing!" Pausing, Shane remembered what had happened earlier. He had tried to figure out what had happened to her, asking her questions over and over again, but she had simply refused to tell him… "No, no. The fucking question that has _yet_ to be answered is what the _fuck_ happened?! You end up going with Ashelyn, then you come back alone and your mind is all fucked up? What the hell happened to you!?"

Miranda flinched, her distant mind coming back to reality and her eyes suddenly widened at the realization of what she had done. Shane turned away, disgusted with her. He walked over to Rylie and started talking to her. "What are we going to do now?" He asked, still a hint of anger in his voice. He had clearly exhausted himself.

The shock hit Miranda like a train, and her mind pin wheeled as she tried to gain a foothold on her sanity. She realized, as she attempted in vain, that her whole life was shattered. She could never have the life she had before. Rafe, they were going to get married before the war, before the military had cracked down. As visions of his tattered body hanging from the wall swarmed in her mind, she felt a deep guilt. She hadn't even been able to help him in his time of need, when he had needed her most. What was the point in going on? Her lover was dead, and after all… she had a murder on her conscience now. How would she ever live with that for the rest of her life? The haunting eyes of the young girl still danced in her vision.

Slowly, she raised the gun, opened her mouth and placed the muzzle of the gun calmly inside. She closed her eyes and hoped that her father would forgive her, and that god would have mercy on soul. They say that suicide is a sin and that sinners go to hell. She could only pray this wasn't true.

"Miranda, no!" Miranda heard Rylie's futile protest, but it was useless, her mind was already made up. She pulled the trigger and barely felt the frail resistance, too frail to be genuine, before the gun shrieked and her world went dark.


End file.
